My three year old wrapped a piece of foil around the cardboard tube, cut off the leftovers, taped the foil to the tube and cut out the flames from the orange and red foam. We taped a yellow strip of construction paper around the top of the tube and then taped the flames into the top of the tube. Once the torch was assembled, my daughter used the Melissa & Doug Alphabet & Number Stickers to spell out Olympics 2012.

When creating the obstacle course, I tried to have as many events represented as possible, but ended up with a lot of Track & Field events! My daughter ran outside with the torch to the start line and got ready to go. Since she was the only child participating (our 9-month-old wasn’t interested!) she didn’t pass the torch, but held it proudly during our medal ceremony.

Our events included: stepping over hurdles (Track & Field), crawling through a tunnel, kicking a soccer ball into a bucket (Soccer), throwing water balloons (shot put) into a hula hoop (Track & Field), throwing a discus into a hula hoop (Track & Field), riding a tractor through the yard (Cycling), doing a somersault on a yoga mat (Gymnastics), picking up a “baton” and running to the finish line (Track & Field). She wore a tennis outfit to represent Tennis.

My daughter had so much fun that she went through the obstacle course several times before stopping to throw all the water balloons into the hula hoop. The Farmer and I even got in on the action and went through the course, too!

We’d made our medals earlier in the day so when we did the medal ceremony I simply placed the gold medal around her neck and gave the silver medal to her bear. She stepped up on a bucket to mimic the podium that the Olympians stand on and held the torch while proudly waving the American flag!

Adrienne, aka The Iowa Farmer’s Wife, is a mommy blogger and mother of two who enjoys sharing simple ideas about educational activities for kids, frugal living and healthy eating. She lives in the Midwest, where she and her husband own a small farm. In addition to being a stay-at-home-mom, Adrienne teaches a speech course at a local university and serves as a co-coordinator of her local MOPS group. The Iowa Farmer’s Wife can be found on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Google+

Perfect for traveling! We’ve partnered with our friends at Highlights for Children to bring some extra creative fun to your children this summer, with our FREE 10-page Boredom Busters printable activity book for kids! Check it out!